During much of his political career, Theodore Roosevelt was an in demand speaker and after multiple invitations he came to central Illinois too. In fact, Illinois students played an early role in the efforts to bring the leading American statesman to town. Read on to learn more!
Continue reading “Early Invitations and Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 Visit to Champaign and Urbana”
Written by Caitlin Stamm
Since its inception, the U of I has been home to many illustrious awards and award-winners. One of the more unique titles, though, was awarded to an Illinois student one hundred years ago.
In April 1914, the Chicago Sunday Tribune named ten girls “The Most Popular Girls in College.” The
girls selected represented schools from across the country, from Stanford University in California to Wellesley College in Massachusetts. According to the Tribune, the defining characteristic of all of the young women selected was “a gracious democracy.” They wrote, “[E]ach and all of the girls chosen possessed above everything else the genius for democracy. It was their certain loadstone of attraction.” The women were selected after correspondents from the paper sent photographs and a description of each girl, detailing “the traits which accounted for her being the universal choice of her school” [1].
One of the ten women selected was Clara Cronk, a senior at Illinois in 1914. The Tribune described Ms. Cronk as “the most popular girl at the University of Illinois,” who “is a senior, a member of the senior memorial committee, and has always taken a prominent part in class politics” [2]. Continue reading “Found in the Archives: The Most Popular Girl in School”
Written by Nick Hopkins
The University of Illinois Student Life and Culture (SLC) Archives maintains documents spanning the entire history of the university. It is particularly focused on the experiences of students. Its collections include documents and photos of student organizations, Illio yearbooks, and sorority and fraternity publications, as well as a great deal of other student sources. The SLC Archives puts the history of student life at UIUC at the fingertips of visitors, for student projects, enjoyment, and professional research.
The SLC Archives also presents an opportunity for students to become part of this history. Students may donate papers of their organization to be archived in the Student Affairs series. Submitted materials are processed and boxed by archives staff, like myself, and are publicly available to view.
Preserving student history is important. One of my favorite student organization collections is the African-American Cultural Program Publications series. These sources are cited in UIUC alumna Joy Ann Williamson’s history of African-American student experiences and Project 500, Black Power on Campus: University of Illinois, 1965-75. The documents allow Williamson to tell the story of black students at a racially contentious time in both university and U.S. history. Continue reading “I’m Documenting Student Life, and You Can Too”